Wild Bastards

Wild Bastards is the second installment in a series of shooters with roguelike and strategy elements. Like the first game, Void Bastards, it was developed by an indie studio Blue Manchu.

Plot

Wild Bastards is set in an unusual sci-fi universe, where advanced technology allowing for interplanetary travel occurs alongside elements straight from the Wild West. The game tells the story of the titular, galactically infamous gang. Their reign comes to an end when magnate Jebediah Chaste declares war on them, hunting down the gang members one by one. Out of thirteen men, only two remain. They team up with the Drifter, a sentient spaceship, setting out to ressurect their friends before they reach the mythical Homestead.

Mechanics

The gameplay of Wild Bastards consists of two layers. The first is space travel, during which we show the Drifter where to go on a procedurally generated 2D galaxy map. The second is first-person exploration and combat.

Before landing, it's worth examining the planet, since they differ in terms of basic parameters (gravity, topography, weather) and unique traits. Based on this data, we can choose a suitable playable character. Each protagonist has different strengths, weaknesses, unique ability and weapon, the proper use of which is needed to come out on top. Combat is reminiscent of a western. We must be accurate, agile and cunning to outsmart our enemies. They're rather smart, tending to use shields, flank us, sometimes even teleport.

Over time, we unlock new characters and upgrade the ones we already have. We also gather better gear and upgrade our abilities to face greater challenges. During moments of downtime we can heal injured gang members and take care of their relationships. Although the outlaws have a common goal, they don't necessarily like each other, so it's up to us to keep the bad blood from ruining the mission.

Game modes

The main mode of Wild Bastards is the story campaign. After completing it, we gain access to challenges, in which we must go through subsequent sectors, facing increasing difficulty and various modifiers.

Technical aspects

Wild Bastards retains the first game's colorful, comic book-like artstyle.